Indian telecom industry loses 33 lakh subscribers, October data shows 0.21% drop

New Delhi [India], December 23 (ANI): The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released its subscription data for October 2024, revealing a decline of 33 lakh active subscribers across the country.

The total number of telephone subscribers, including wireless and wireline, stood at 1,188.20 million as of October 31, 2024, reflecting a monthly decline rate of 0.21 per cent.

Urban and rural subscribers experienced reductions, with urban subscriptions decreasing to 660.42 million and rural subscriptions falling to 527.79 million. 

The broadband segment also saw a marginal decline, with total subscribers decreasing from 944.40 million in September 2024 to 941.47 million in October 2024, registering a decline rate of 0.31 per cent.

Wired broadband, however, showed growth, rising from 43.63 million to 44.66 million subscribers, an increase of 2.37 per cent. Conversely, fixed wireless connections such as Wi-Fi and Wi-Max dropped significantly by 22.72 per cent, while mobile device users fell by 0.42 per cent to 896.05 million.

Wireless subscriptions, which form the bulk of India's telecom base, declined from 1,153.72 million in September 2024 to 1,150.42 million in October 2024, registering a monthly decline rate of 0.29 per cent.

Both urban and rural wireless subscriptions saw decreases, with urban areas shrinking by 0.41 per cent and rural areas by 0.14 per cent. 

The wireless tele-density reduced to 81.77 per cent, while urban and rural tele-densities dropped to 124.38 per cent and 58.06 per cent, respectively.

In contrast to the wireless segment, wireline subscribers increased from 36.93 million in September 2024 to 37.79 million in October 2024, marking a growth rate of 2.31 per cent.

Urban areas accounted for 92.25 per cent of the wireline subscriber base, while rural areas contributed 7.75 per cent. The overall wireline tele-density rose to 2.69 per cent during this period.

Reliance Jio continued to lead in both wired and wireless broadband markets. Among wired broadband providers, Jio had 14.79 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel with 8.91 million.

In wireless broadband, Jio held a dominant 460.02 million subscribers, followed by Airtel with 278.76 million and Vodafone Idea with 125.43 million. 

A total of 13.45 million requests for mobile number portability (MNP) were recorded in October, bringing the cumulative MNP requests to 1,052.56 million since its implementation. 

Meanwhile, the number of M2M (Machine-to-Machine) cellular mobile connections increased from 54.64 million in September to 56.12 million in October.

The overall tele-density in India fell slightly from 84.69 per cent in September to 84.46 per cent in October 2024. Urban tele-density dropped to 131.31 per cent, while rural tele-density declined to 58.39 per cent.

Among service areas, Delhi recorded the highest tele-density at 278.24 per cent, whereas Bihar had the lowest at 56.25 per cent. (ANI)